We send our warmest congratulations to our Tax Manager, Fran Brooks and her fiancé Stuart, who are getting married tomorrow Thursday 22nd July, having already had to postpone their wedding for obvious reasons. We are sure you will want to join us in sending them both warmest wishes.
We are pleased to announce that our Sri Sivalingam has passed his Audit paper in the final stages of his Chartered Association of Certified Accountants Qualifications. Sri now has only one paper to go before he is fully qualified.
Although it is two years away, we thought we should let you know that taxpayers with self-employed business income, partnerships or letting income, greater than £10,000, will have to submit electronic quarterly tax return from 6 April 2023.
This new way of reporting is being referred to by HMRC as Making Tax Digital for Income Tax and is part of the Government’s drive to make the UK’s tax system the best in the world.
This future introduction will change the way you will required to keep records and accounts for tax. Although reporting frequency will change to quarterly, payments on account and balancing payments will remain payable on 31 January and 31 July each year as before.
Although these changes will be fully supported by us to help you make sure that you remain compliant, we appreciate that these developments are unlikely to be very welcome for most taxpayers! We will keep you updated as HMRC releases information on the implementation of the new system.
Legal restrictions in place in respect of Covid-19 will start to end on Monday 19th July in England, Wales and Scotland. Each country is taking a slightly different approach to timings and some of the detail around what is required, but in all countries, there is the start of an easing.
This is a significant move away from the restrictions and obligations that we have been living with for over a year. We are being encouraged to take personal responsibility.
This makes it less clear to employers exactly how and what they need to do.
Employers now need to ensure they meet their legal obligations whilst also deciding on their stance to those unclear areas, such as whether they will want people to wear masks and if so when and where, their approach to requiring staff to undertake testing, whether to maintain social distancing and screens and how to manage where and when employees work etc.
There will not be a ‘one size fits all’ approach and each business should take a measured approach, remembering that from a legal perspective they must meet their core obligations.
Some considerations include:
Whilst it is a welcome return to something more ‘normal’ for us all with the easing of restrictions for all businesses to open properly after many months of restrictions, some of the changes and implications of such will need careful handling by employers.
Most importantly employers need to meet their core legal obligations – starting with following the principles set out in the revised ‘Working Safely’ guidance.
Beyond that, employers need to handle employees sensitively, especially considering people will still have anxiety. How and in what circumstances an employer may wish employees to return to the workplace needs careful thought. Communication with employees is vital.
If you would like advice or further information about your obligations as an employer, please do get in touch.
